Mountains Were Created After The Earth
Selections from the Book The Story of The Beginning of Creation and The Creation of Adam, peace be upon him …
Written by Dr. Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi...
Episode (36)
The Qur'anic verses indicate that the creation of the mountains came after the creation of the earth, as in His saying: {Are you a more difficult creation or is the heaven? He [i.e., Allah] constructed it. (27) He raised its ceiling and proportioned it. (28) And He darkened its night and extracted its brightness. (29) And after that He spread the earth. (30) He extracted from it its water and its pasture, (31) And the mountains He set firmly (32)} [An-Nazi'at: 27-32].
It has been previously mentioned, as interpreted by many interpreters, that the "spreading" of the earth came after its initial creation and after the creation of the heavens as well. Thus, the creation of the mountains occurred after this spreading and is connected to it, as affirmed by many scholars.
{And the mountains He set firmly}: Meaning that He stabilized, anchored, and firmly fixed them in their places. It is narrated from Anas ibn Malik that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When Allah created the earth it began to oscillate, so He created the mountains, ordered them on to it, and it became steady".
Allah described the mountains as firmly set mountains, as in His saying: {And We placed within the earth firmly set mountains, lest it should shift with them, and We made therein [mountain] passes [as] roads that they might be guided.} [Al-Anbya: 31]. He also described them as lofty, as in His words: {And We placed therein lofty, firmly set mountains and have given you to drink sweet water.} [Al-Mursalat: 27]. Allah further likened the mountains to stakes in His statement: {And the mountains as stakes?} [An-Naba: 7], and He called upon mankind to reflect on how they have been erected in the verse: {And at the mountains - how they are erected?} [Al-Ghashiyah: 19].
- Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi, The Story of The Beginning of Creation and The Creation of Adam, peace be upon him, pp. 241-242.
- The Story of Creation, Al-Kharaan, p. 118.
For further information and review of the sources for the article, see:
The Book of The Story of The Beginning of Creation and The Creation of Adam, peace be upon him on the official website of Sheikh Dr. Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi:
